Spanish Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Spanish language. It's 100% free, no registration required.

English speakers learning Spanish have a hard time understanding the similarities and differences between ya, todavía, and aún (or aun). They don't perfectly match up with the similar English words "already," "yet," and "still." What concept exactly does each of the Spanish words express? Is there a relatively easy way for a language learner to understand the differences, or is it a matter of memorizing which word is used in which type of phrase?

In Wisconsin, too, "yet" is often used as "again" or even "more". I remember a friend talking about someone he disliked being knocked down by someone he'd insulted. "I wish he'd knock him down again yet!", he said. And I recall an old guy watching me unload my car. He was amazed I had so much stuff and had assumed I was done when I came back for one more load. "YET??", He said.
–
user4193Jun 25 '14 at 1:40

"Ya" can also mean "soon" or "right now" (to add to the confusion).
–
guifaAug 31 '14 at 0:40

Do you have a reference for "Aún cuando había pagado...."? I'd have written it without the accent. But on further reflection, I wonder if both aun and aún could be correct, depending on what you're trying to say, with aun making your unfulfilled expectation prominent and aún emphasazing the sequence of events.
–
Michael WolfSep 4 '14 at 18:54

Ya: When a positive finished action is spoken. "I have already done the homework" would be "Ya he hecho los deberes".

Todavía and aún. I would say they are perfect synonyms, as everyone outlined in this post. But I want to note something. If I said 'todavía', I would be more likely to do the action after saying that. Also, it is expected to me to do it and I kind of deceive someone if I don't do it. If I said 'aún', which would be slightly more vague, I am just informing, not making up any excuse.

Examples: Todavía no he arreglado el cuarto. Aún no he arreglado el cuarto. First one would be said when slightly deceive someone (sorry, I haven't tide up my room yet), second one I'm just informing or complaining (I haven't tide up my room so I cannot find anything!).

In English dialects, there are subtle differences between the meanings of one of these three words. If you go back some seventy years, the phrase "Is he yet reading?" would have been understood differently in Ohio and in New England.

In New England, this phrase would have been understood as a stilted way of saying, "Is he reading yet?", something one would say of a child.

In Ohio, it meant, "Is he still reading?", something one would say of an old man.

The matchup for ya, aún, and todavía is close but not exact. You shouldn'r expcet it to be exact. With prepositions, the mismatches are even more evident.